


The Rose

by Happyorogeny



Series: The Illidari [8]
Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Gen, Smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-22
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2019-03-22 15:08:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13766736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Happyorogeny/pseuds/Happyorogeny
Summary: A mysterious flower appears in the Illidari camp. Marius is suspicious.





	The Rose

A rose had appeared in the middle of the Illidari camp.

Even in the midst of a demon invasion folk wanted to celebrate. If anything it made them even more defiant in festooning the camp with crepe paper hearts and pink streamers. The Illidari often ended up bedecked in ribbons and glitter, having crashed through various decorations in their enthusiasm to catch a running demon.

They reacted to the flower with their standard levels of playful hysteria. 

“Touch it, I dare you.”

“You touch it!”

“No, that might mean I’m married. That’s how the Kaldorei do it, they leave something out for an unsuspecting person to pick up and then a flat-eared fool shows up on your doorstep with a bag of their belongings.” Allari sounded very sure of this. Salesh tugged the edge of her wing, pulling her off balance.

“That’s not how it works.”

“How’d anyone ever marry you then, you great lanky-" 

He tackled her with an outraged shriek. Marius ducked an errant wing and they went tumbling in a spitting mass of talons and teeth. Falara yelled in protest as they rolled into the stock tent and collapsed it atop her. 

Vandel trotted up behind Marius, sniffing at red petals. He stepped back to sneeze and looked at the taller night elf. 

"It’s just a flower, right?”

Marius pulled the air in over the roof of his mouth, scenting for poison.

“It seems to be.”

Kor'vas appeared out of the fog on the far side of the camp, followed by a trail of giggling Sin'dorei hunters. She wielded a halberd with a determined expression. 

“Stay back, I’ll test if it’s trapped.”

Falara had cut her way free of the collapsed tent and was now scolding Allari, who promptly scolded her back. Belath huddled behind the felbats so as to avoid her wrath. Up in the cliffs Marius could just see Kayn peering down at them, confused by the ruckus.

Kor’vas poked at the vase and everyone scattered as it fell over. 

Someone hastily muffled a cackle. He turned to scowl at Tehd, perched on the sleeping Haterunner. The forsaken had layered himself beneath several cloaks, Marius’s amongst them, for his undead limbs had grown stiff in the constant unnatural cold of the Isles. 

The chill hadn’t softened his tongue or his wit in the least. He had bartered a wooden pipe off the goblins and now puffed away contentedly, though Marius was quite sure he didn’t need to breathe. 

“That’s bad for you,” he told the warlock as he padded over. 

“No, it’s bad for the living. An elementary mistake, that.” He tutted. 

Haterunner lifted his head and rumbled in greeting as Marius approached, then rolled over to expose nine foot of stomach to be scratched. Tehd yelped as the movement threw him to the ground, destroying his nest of blankets. Marius sat on him, ignoring his squawked protests. 

“Why the flower?”

“Look at the reaction. That’s prime entertainment. You have any idea what they’d pay for this in Undercity? Don’t answer, of course you don’t.”

Having ascertained it was indeed a simple rose, a cluster of about ten hunters now darted around the camp trying to decide where it would be most decorative. 

“Put it in the beholder skull!” Mytal said, pointing.

“Why?”

“Beauty in the eye of the beholder!”

That was too much, even for Asha. She hissed in annoyance and knocked him flat with her wing. He cackled in the dust, extremely pleased with himself.

But now they had run into a cultural divide- the Sin’dorei wanted to place the rose in the most aesthetically pleasing position, but the more traditional Kaldoeri maintained flowers were sacred. This one had to be put in the east, for luck.

A rapidly growing third contingent wanted to put it outside Illidan’s tent. They often left tokens and trinkets outside their leader’s quarters in the belief it would bring them fortune. 

Marius sighed at him. Tehd reached up to tap his nose with the base of the pipe. 

“Don’t look so disappointed. There’s one for everyone.”

“What!?”

“I hid them. You folks love a treasure hunt.”

“You’re just trying to distract people from pulling your tent down.” This had rapidly become a favourite game of the younger Illidari, mostly because Tehd fussed so loudly and inventively.

“It’s very distressing to an old man, Marius, very hard on the heart.”

“You are hardly old compared to me, and undead besides.”

On the far side of the camp, Izal shrieked. 

“Another one!" 

Banshee the felbat preened as a dozen hunters surrounded her. Someone had painstakingly tucked a rose behind her giant ear. 

The Illidari realised now that this was a game, not some obscure threat or assassin’s gambit. With much delight, the hunt was on. Kayn glided down to investigate and almost immediately found a peony sequestered away inside a coil of rope. Allari peered inside the ribcage of a shredded felguard at the edge of their camp and pulled out a lily, thrilling with delight. 

"Where did you even get so many?” The Broken Shore was hardly the place for flower sellers. 

“Why, from the goblins. They always have exactly what you need, and many useless things besides.”

Even the injured demon hunters had risen in response to the commotion, leaning on one another or makeshift crutches to limp about. Tehd poked him in the small-ribs. 

“Any chance of you getting off me? Not that I’d usually mind, but I’d like to record this.”

“Why?”

“I’m writing a book.”

Marius hummed and hawed.

“Where’s my flower?”

“Haterunner ate it.”

The demon hunters worked out quite rapidly the source of their entertainment. Been largely benevolent creatures, they decided as a group that a gift was in order. This lead too much debate. What did humans like? What did undead humans like? Not flowers, as humans often used them in funeral rites. Hair gel? Perfumes? Skeletons of mysterious origin, in case he was lonely?

Tehd had the good grace to pretend not to hear them whispering and fluttering around outside. He did, however, complain in a non-stop stream for almost ten minutes when he tried to leave his tent only to find himself walled in by smoking pipes.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this work, check out the rest of my writing and find me at https://happyorogeny.tumblr.com/writing


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